The Kubatana Trust of Zimbabwe

16.09.2005 A new report by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum traces the main consequences of Operation “Murambatsvina,” which according to the U.N. has left 700,000 people homeless since it was set in motion on May 19. The report also places the Operation into the context of events that have taken place in Zimbabwe over several years.

24.08.2005 United Nations special envoy Anna Tibaijuka’s report on Zimbabwe's Operation Murambatsvina has continued to attract heavy media attention. But while the private media in the country have carried fairly investigative and balanced reports on the topic, the government-controlled media’s coverage is rigid, characterised by shrill defence of government’s implementation of Murambatsvina while simultaneously parading the clampdown’s mop-up successor, Operation Garikai, as a worthy programme.

18.08.2005 While the government purports to have acted within the confines of the law, a close examination of the relevant legislation and international human rights provisions establishes a case of noncompliance at both municipal and international levels. Fundamental principles of administrative justice such the right to be heard and to appeal were not respected. The situation is further compromised by a judiciary that is perceived as lacking in impartiality. Basic rights such as the right to life, housing, education, decent and humane treatment were disregarded in contravention of the many international human rights treaties to which the Zimbabwean government is signatory.